{"id":1152,"date":"2017-12-08T03:11:17","date_gmt":"2017-12-08T03:11:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/?p=1152"},"modified":"2017-12-08T03:11:17","modified_gmt":"2017-12-08T03:11:17","slug":"argentina-judge-seeks-arrest-of-ex-leader-cristina-fernandez-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/2017\/12\/08\/argentina-judge-seeks-arrest-of-ex-leader-cristina-fernandez-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Argentina judge seeks arrest of ex-leader Cristina Fern\u00e1ndez [Analysis]"},"content":{"rendered":"

http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-latin-america-42264165<\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n

Impoverished countries are no stranger to political corruption. A lot of that political corruption festers in the 3rd world countries of Latin America. Argentina isn\u2019t exempt from these problems. In 1994, there was a bomb attack against the Jewish population in Buenos Aires. 85 people were killed in these explosions, and the eyes turned on the government for answers. Fernandez and her associates were accused of being affiliated with the terrorist attack, and they were placed under house arrest as a result. It\u2019s apparent that political stability is almost nonexistent as it\u2019s not often that senators are arrested. It\u2019ll be interesting to see how this plays out considering that if they do uncover stuff about Fernandez, then it will be a huge blow to the government and especially her political party.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Actual Article:<\/p>\n

A judge in Argentina says he is seeking the arrest of former President Cristina Fern\u00e1ndez de Kirchner over accusations she took part in a political cover-up.<\/p>\n

Ms Fern\u00e1ndez, who governed for eight years from December 2007, was recently elected a senator and as such enjoys parliamentary immunity.<\/p>\n

For her to be arrested, the Senate would have to lift that immunity with a two-thirds majority vote.<\/p>\n

She called the move a “nonsense… [which] violates the rule of law”.<\/p>\n

Senators said they would consider the judge’s request once they received it.<\/p>\n

‘Criminal plan’<\/h2>\n

Federal judge Claudio Bonadio, who is seeking the arrest, alleges Ms Fern\u00e1ndez was took part in “an orchestrated criminal plan” to cover up the alleged involvement of senior Iranian officials in a 1994 bomb attack against a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires.<\/p>\n

Judge Bonadio also ordered that H\u00e9ctor Timerman, who was foreign minister under Ms Fern\u00e1ndez, be placed under house arrest in connection with the same case.<\/p>\n

Two more close allies of Ms Fern\u00e1ndez were arrested on Thursday morning. They are Carlos Zannadi, a senior legal official in the Fern\u00e1ndez administration, and political activist Luis D’El\u00eda.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Ms Fern\u00e1ndez called a news conference to once again deny the allegations against her and to denounce the judge’s investigation.<\/p>\n

“It is a case fabricated on facts that never existed. What is happening is a nonsense, a true excess,” she said.<\/p>\n

“It not only violates the rule of law, but seeks to inflict personal and political harm on opponents.”<\/p>\n

Image caption<\/span>The Amia building after the bombing, which killed 85 people<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She said Judge Bonadio acted on the orders of President Mauricio Macri to intimidate her and other left-wing opposition leaders.<\/p>\n

“Mauricio Macri is the director of the orchestra,” she said.<\/p>\n

“He wants to divert attention from the fact that his economic measures have failed. This is a smoke curtain aimed at scaring the people and the unions,” added Ms Fernandez.<\/p>\n

Argentina’s deadliest terror attack<\/h2>\n

Judge Bonadio presides over a commission which is investigating the 1994 bombing of the Israeli-Argentine Mutual Association (known as Amia for its initials in Spanish), a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires.<\/p>\n

Eighty-five people died in the bombing, which was Argentina’s deadliest terror attack.<\/p>\n

Judge Bonadio re-opened the case against Ms Fern\u00e1ndez after it had been dismissed by another federal judge in February 2015.<\/p>\n

The allegations of a cover-up in the highest echelons of government were originally made by special prosecutor Alberto Nisman, whose sudden death in January 2015 is still being investigated.<\/p>\n